Renowned French philosopher-traditionalist, geo-politician and founder of the Nouvelle Droite (French for New Right - IF) Alain de Benoist believes modern Europe "has beaten the USSR record" in the mass atheism. "Europe has reached such level of atheism that Russia didn't have even after forced totalitarian policy of the Soviet period," Benois said at a meeting with Russian scientists in the Conservative Studies Center at the Sociology Faculty of the Moscow State University.

Representatives of Orthodox public organizations addressed the King of Saudi Arabia an open letter with a request to build an Orthodox Church in his country. The address, conveyed to Interfax-Religion, was initiated after the Saudi Kingdom announced its plans to build a mosque in Moscow.

"You often say that Islam is a religion of justice. However, if Saudi Arabia builds mosques in dozens of Christian countries, isn't it just to build a church for Christians living in Your Kingdom!" the letter says.

A prayer service for the health of people living with HIV/AIDS and their relatives will be conducted in the Moscow Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Khoroshevo on November 30 on the eve of World AIDS Awareness Day. If someone cannot attend the service, the names for prayer (people baptized in the Russian Church) can be sent by e-mail to molebenhiv@mail.ru, the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations (DECR) has told Interfax-Religion on Friday.

The Russian Orthodox Church has known of cases in which AIDS has been miraculously healed.

The Moscow Patriarchate believes actions of Bolsheviks that caused mass famine of the 1930s should be decisively assessed, but urges to renounce attempts to consider the tragedy genocide. "The theme of mass holodomor of the 1930s gives grounds for thinking both in Ukraine and in Russia. Kiev should understand that this tragedy didn't affect only Ukrainian people, and Moscow should decisively condemn Bolshevik actions that resulted in mass famine," Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin told Interfax-Religion on Thursday.

Over 200 people, from various
jurisdictions, gathered together on Sunday November 16, 2008 in Minneapolis for the annual IOCC Benefit Dinner. His Grace Bishop Irinej of the
Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand was the featured speaker and shared his personal experiences about
working with IOCC in various locales around the world in offering people a
"hand up" from their often dire circumstances. His Grace is on a speaking tour
of the United States on behalf of IOCC and his diocese has provided half of the $100,000
matching grant for IOCC's work in Kosovo and Metohija. Before his ordination,
the Bishop was an IOCC staff member, and while a priest served on the IOCC
Board.

International Orthodox Christian
Charities (IOCC), which since 1993 has provided more than $75 million in
emergency relief and development programs to the former Yugoslavia, is currently hosting a special speaking tour featuring his
Grace Bishop Irinej of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Australia and New
Zealand. Bishop Irinej is rallying American Orthodox faithful on
behalf of families living in the isolated enclaves of Kosovo and Metohija. "I'm letting
people know the daily reality for children in Kosovo is to go to school under
armed escort," said the Serbian bishop who is originally from Ohio and
was once an IOCC employee. "We must be that ray of hope for those children even
in the simplest provision of school books and school kits," he said.